HFAM Update
Friends:
The AHCA national numbers are alarming, 220,000 workers have left our sector since the beginning of the pandemic. Here in Maryland, 40,000 licensed professionals did NOT renew their license this year – from Med Techs, Phlebotomists, LPNs, and RNs.
As we have shared publicly and privately with the media and our government partners, the top three issues for our sector for the foreseeable future are workforce, workforce, and workforce. Followed by adequate and increasing reimbursement that allows our sector to be more competitive in recruiting and retaining our teams while facing stiff competition in other healthcare settings for the same employees.
A few key points on the workforce data:
- Interestingly the BLS data sliced and diced for us confidentially by NIC shows that our labor shortage in Maryland is significant but less significant than the national shortage.
- Also, keep in mind that our data run was from February 2020 to August 2021; AHCA’s was from March 2020 to October 2021.
- The labor force participation rate is higher in Maryland than it is nationally.
- Maryland’s nurse and all staff to patient ratio are slighter higher than the national averages, while the aide and tech ratio is slightly lower than the national average.
HFAM Vaccination Video
In our fight against the COVID-19 virus, vaccines work. The vaccines are highly effective in preventing people from getting sick or seriously ill from COVID-19 and in slowing the spread of the virus. The vaccines are the best tool we have as new, more contagious, and threatening variants of the virus begin to emerge.
Together, we must continue pushing to increase staff vaccination in the healthcare sector. That’s why we are eternally grateful to Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Adrienne Jones, as well as Cherie Taylor and Renee Harris of the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington for recording this HFAM public service video to help encourage people living and working in skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers and on assisted living campuses to get vaccinated—and to get the booster! Please share this video with your teams, residents, and family members.
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Monoclonal Antibody new EUA:
- Regeneron can be used for post-exposure prophylaxis for unvaccinated persons at high risk and for those who have been vaccinated but not expected to have mounted an adequate immune response, even with the vaccine.
- Regeneron may be administered subcutaneously when IV infusion is not available in a timely manner.
- Regeneron can be ordered directly through the supplier - AmerisourceBergen
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Here is a link to administration information https://www.regencov.com/hcp/dosing/dosing-administration
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And, here is the link to the recent video with Dr. Katz, Dr. Haft, and Dr. Loome: https://youtu.be/jECXgAFH8wI
As Always:
- Focus on what is in your control and not what is out of your control.
- Let’s get those boosters and the flu vaccine in the arms of people.
- Overcommunicate – with residents, patients, families, staff, and government partners.
- Adapt and innovate.
- Rely on your partnerships.
- Speak up when you need help.
- Double efforts on infectious disease protocols, training, and operations.
- Take and document your action; keep a timeline.
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CLICK HERE for the Dr. Katz Video, and please see the Donning and Doffing Checklist we have been sharing.
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REPORT: Nursing Homes Down 221,000 Jobs Since Start Of Pandemic
Long term care industry facing worst job loss among all health care providers
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL), representing more than 14,000 nursing homes and assisted living communities across the country that provide care to approximately five million people each year, released a report today showing long term facilities are suffering from the worst labor crisis and job loss than any other health care sector. Nursing homes alone have seen its industry’s employment level drop by 14 percent or 221,000 jobs since the beginning of the pandemic.
While hospitals, physicians’ offices, outpatient care centers and other health care facilities have reached or surpassed pre-pandemic staffing levels, nursing homes and assisted living communities are still experiencing substantial job losses according to the latest October employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
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Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of AHCA/NCAL said that these workforce challenges for nursing homes and assisted living communities could be attributable to multiple factors.
“As many caregivers are getting burned out by the pandemic, workers are leaving the field for jobs in other health care settings or other industries altogether. Chronic Medicaid underfunding, combined with the billions of dollars providers have spent to fight the pandemic, have left long term care providers struggling to compete for qualified staff. We desperately need the help of policymakers to attract and retain more caregivers, so that our nation’s most vulnerable have access to the long term care they need,” said Parkinson.
Comparing the latest BLS employment data released last week with pre-pandemic employment back in March 2020 shows nursing homes have lost the most jobs than any other health care sector.
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AHCA/NCAL released a survey of long term care providers earlier this year showing that the labor crisis is worsening and impacting access to care for vulnerable seniors:
- 86% of nursing homes and 77% of assisted living providers said their workforce situation has gotten worse in recent months
- 58 percent of nursing homes are limiting new admissions
- 78 percent of nursing homes and 61 percent of assisted living communities are concerned workforce challenges might force them to close
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One Day Left! The National Quality Award Intent to Apply Deadline is Thursday, Nov. 11
The 2022 National Quality Award Intent to Apply deadline is tomorrow, Thursday, November 11 by 8 p.m. Eastern.
If you have not already submitted an ITA, please do so by logging into the Portal before the deadline to avoid any delays. We encourage you to commit to continuing your quality improvement journey.
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Reminder: Update to CRISP Vaccination Data Reporting - New Wording
Effective November 9, the wording surrounding the drop-down box for submitting weekly vaccination information in the CRISP daily reporting has changed.
Please note that on Wednesdays you must submit weekly vaccination data per MDH Orders. Select "YES" in the drop-down box on Wednesdays. Other days you may select "No."
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Vaccination Promotion Video
Featuring MD Speaker of the House Adrienne Jones and Healthcare Heroes - Cherie Taylor and Renee Harris!
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In our fight against the COVID-19 virus, vaccines work. The vaccines are highly effective in preventing people from getting sick or seriously ill from COVID-19 and in slowing the spread of the virus. The vaccines are the best tool we have as new, more contagious, and threatening variants of the virus, like Delta, begin to emerge.
Maryland, and our healthcare heroes, have led the nation in vaccination. Skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers, assisted living campuses, and hospitals in Maryland were prioritized and the first vaccines were getting into the arms of Marylanders in need on December 23, 2020.
Even before any government vaccine mandate and as HFAM issued statements supporting healthcare employers who mandated the vaccine, on average, 79 percent of the staff were vaccinated—today, 86.9 percent of staff are fully vaccinated vaccinated.
All of that said, now is NOT a time for any of us to let down our guard – together, we must continue pushing to increase staff vaccination in the healthcare sector.
That’s why we are eternally grateful to Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Adrienne Jones, as well as Cherie Taylor and Renee Harris of the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington for recording this HFAM public service video to help encourage people living and working in skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers and on assisted living campuses to get vaccinated—and to get the booster!
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Some behind the scenes of the making of this video! |
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Did you miss an update?
Visit our website to view all previous HFAM alerts, as well as guidance
from our federal and state partners.
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